The Rites of Business
When one hits pay-dirt
How far can this go
The thrill in success is habit forming
Success becoming currency of the day’s blo'
Materialism playing a heavy hand as judgment
With minions waiting to join in
Groping for a share... a nibble
Crumbs from a well stocked table thin
Success breeding honey pots
Of opportunity to crowds waiting...
To fill the known orchards
Supplying needed and peripheral ingredients baiting
To whatever the market will handle
Sales and profits bloat to extremes
So did live fluctuations...
Demands creating room for re-supply schemes
May the best man supply
Even to excess if the profits allow for it
Sales for the sake of a sale
Profit gleaning until limits reached fit
Then at limits, belt tightening occurs
Competition gets misty
May the best men rule the day
Profits shrink tighter around honey pots risky
Profits looking for further supports
Even to cutting corners.
___*___
Not my loss
Parts turn on parts
Inner competitions flare
Consolidating looks for more glory from past days starts
The wolves come out from hiding
Killing off the timid lazy
Then rid the thieves and easy prey
Even vampires come under attacks… crazy
Leaving nepotism’s standing for last
Favorites then Cronies being the last to go
Leaving bare bones to be picked
How institutions set up for feeding know
Scraping bones so well.
___*___
And if basics do not hold
Mergers and buyouts occur
Around tight consolidations
Who the most fierce holding on were...
The home boys
Nodules that remain for the last pickings
While new frontiers are found by settlers
Looking for repeats ticking
So do infections thrive
Growing, expanding, then deflate
Around the industries of old
Scraping perimeters for new that rate
Even waking the dead
Making sure all graves are kept clean
And the entrepreneurs, partners, families, friends, fill the landscapes of America
Sharing in the profits with outside family and friends teamed
And when families weren’t enough
Questions abound looking for stragglers
What about strangers of the same fold
For profit remains for the king’s own hagglers
The nest squeezers always looking for more
As more is the king
So why not groups of those seeking more
To invest supplying financing lubrication's bling
To oil the gears of business
Hands in the till just for investing
A new game in town
As Nature itself came under siege resting
With conscience, ethics, and fair play
Finally put to bed.
___*___
Investing vendors joining the parties
Institutions grow as supporting investors
With nothing but money to fill in needed pockets
No talent and little time outside stock report requestors
Getting stronger over time
So strong, they become the last to leave
Shorts picking up their profits
At closing time retrieve.
___*___
So did, so does business prosper
With labor and resources getting the bill
Because after all it is a variable cost
In wages and benefits still
Find the best... cheapest employees
The market will hold
For wealth minds not sharing
For a little while bold.
The games the thing
And the toys the prize
Equal to dreams and comforts
While man’s true meaning lies…
Well, it remains in there folded, somewhere
Always worth a few pence at the end
The shill, bleeding heart excuses, and guilty conscience
Always worth more dimes and nickles mend
So does modern business prosper
Until all gray grounds are used up.
Copyright © Brian Rusch | Year Posted 2025
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